Lewis Hamilton raced to pole for United States Grand Prix 2016 by setting the pace in the qualifying race at the Circuit of the Americas on Saturday.

The Mercedes driver, who has won three of the last four races in Austin, grabbed his first-ever pole at the circuit with a fastest lap of 1:34.99s which was 0.216s quicker than his teammate Nico Rosberg.

Hamilton would have been more than happy to start from the front row of the grid as he is trailing his Mercedes teammate Rosberg, who is sitting pretty at the top (313), by 33 points in the Formula One drivers' championship battle.

The defending champion, who last won a race at Germany in July, which was also his sixth of the ongoing season, has been struggling due to poor starts and engine problems. At the Suzuka, Hamilton showed grit to recover from another poor start to finish third.

On the other hand, Rosberg, who is chasing his tenth win of the season in Austin, just needs four second-place finishes to win the championship. The German was optimistic that he would be able to emerge victorious on Sunday despite a start from P2.

While Mercedes have already claimed the constructors' championship for the season, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen did a lot of good to Red Bull, who are fighting for the second spot with Ferrari in the constructor standings, as they will be starting the race on Sunday from the second row of the grid.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel occupied the fifth and sixth position at the end of qualifying. However, the two drivers would have wanted to close in on the top four with better timinigs on Saturday.

Force India's Nico Hulkenberg and Williams' Valtteri Bottas will start the race from the fourth row.